Chapter 25 Building a Factory
Box after box of coins were moved out of the manor's warehouse, and building after building was built in Castel.
The islanders of Castel were surprised to find that their lord had gone mad and started recruiting people to build a workshop.
Oh, they call it a "factory", but to the islanders, it's just a bigger workshop with a weird layout.
The general manager brought the engineering team to survey the plain area and fence off the land. Within a few days, a factory building was built.
The original islanders had to hand over their catches and brew fruit wine in order to pay the pirates' sea taxes, but now they suddenly stopped. Most of the vacant workers were recruited into the construction team. In addition to the factory, they were also said to be building a school. For a while, almost the entire island was under construction.
Many islanders feel a little uncomfortable. The island they have lived on for generations is a place they don’t recognize when they go back after not visiting it for just a few days.
What are so many factories going to be used for?
The islanders didn't know, but they didn't mind - although the lord forcibly conscripted them, he was willing to pay for it! There was almost no business in Castel, and primitive barter could meet most of the needs of the islanders, but it was difficult for them to earn even a few Rio coins with their own hands.
No one knew when they would need money, so the islanders happily put down their original work and became employees of the lord.
Now that the hired workers had money, the people on the island suddenly found themselves becoming wealthy. Even the fishermen who went out to sea found that more and more people were willing to spend money to buy fish.
Money began to circulate on the island, and the speed of circulation was getting faster and faster. Everyone felt that they were becoming richer, and after becoming rich, they were gradually willing to spend the extra money.
The islanders of Castres gradually became full of energy and they felt that their lives were getting better.
“Money is only valuable if it is in circulation; otherwise it is just scrap metal waiting to rust.”
Alexei didn't understand when he first heard the lord say this, but now he realizes how wise it is.
The lord was generous with his gold coins, and his town hall also took out all the building materials in stock, in addition to the manpower that was freed up because they did not have to pay taxes to the pirates. The combination of these three things was like a chemical reaction, which mobilized the entire island of Castel efficiently and made it prosperous.
Is this the Lord's plan?
Alexei seemed to see the Rhine in a trance, the capital Rhine known as the pearl of the empire, which was also so prosperous - no, perhaps the Rhine was not as lively as this island.
He sighed and looked at the construction site in front of him.
Several people were approaching with their heads tilted.
Those who participated in the construction were all islanders, mostly fishermen. They didn’t know what a factory was, they just worked hard.
But there were also some recruited winemakers who had stayed in the workshop for a long time, and the factory in front of them felt a little strange to them.
"Master, what are you going to put here?" A craftsman asked Alexei carefully with a smile on his face.
"This is just an ordinary passage." Alexei glanced at the blueprint.
"Passage?" The craftsman was stunned. "Why build such a wide passage?"
He gestured with his hands. "It's totally useless?"
"This is a factory. All building dimensions are specified. Do you think this is just a random workshop?"
Alexei shook his head. He originally thought that these size requirements were a bit redundant until he started to carry in the millstones used for oil pressing. The standard-sized channel was just enough for these tools to pass through. If the channel was one inch wider, it would be a waste, and if it was one inch narrower, they couldn't squeeze in.
He thought it was just a coincidence, but as such coincidences became more and more frequent, Alexei gradually realized that the drawings that Hughes gave him were all carefully designed.
He developed several size standards that seemed redundant, but if they were needed, they could be found immediately without having to go to the site to measure.
For example, Xius is now in the manor, but he knows clearly how much goods his factory can transport in and out in a day, how big a box can just fit into the door of the room, and if new equipment is to be added, what size it will need.
Alexei once asked Hughes about this, and his lord smiled and told him that this was called standardization.
Standardization is a magical word. Even though there is nothing beyond Alexei's understanding, it makes everything become well organized in an instant.
With a sigh, Alexei turned his attention back to the construction site in front of him.
The olive oil factory has been basically built. There is nothing much to say about the process. It is just using a stone mill to squeeze oil from olives.
Alexei noticed that not all the factories had been loaded with various oil-pressing equipment, and some were simply empty.
He guessed that the lord wanted to use it to make other things.
He had some guesses about what to do specifically.
The task that Hughes gave him was not only to build a factory, but also to explore for minerals - he didn't know what mines were.
So Alexei found a blacksmith shop. Although the blacksmith there could not be called an expert in minerals, he certainly knew a lot more than he did.
The result was, "No, I'm very busy here and I can't do it in the next few days."
The blacksmith flatly refused him.
"This is from the Lord."
"You are doing the Lord's work, and so am I!" The burly old man glared at him with his beard puffed out. "A few days ago, the Lord sent someone to my house and asked me to make a boiler part. Here, that's it."
Alexei followed the blacksmith's instructions and looked inside the blacksmith's shop.
"hiss!"
He gasped for a breath of the hot air from the fire and was startled.
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There was a pile of miscellaneous devices whose use was unclear, but even a layman like him could see the exquisiteness of them.
"My Lord, the picture is well drawn, and the dimensions are clearly marked, but this thing is too weird!"
The old blacksmith watched with a frown.
"And they want a lot and they're urgent. I've been running the furnace until it's almost smoking. How can I have time to go with you to look for mineral veins?"
Alexei had to return disappointed and build the factory first.
The newly built oil press factory was fine, but the transformation of the sweet fruit wine workshop encountered a lot of trouble.
Most of those workshops were dilapidated, messy, and even dirty, which was disgusting to look at.
Xius personally visited these workshops, hesitated for a long time, and finally gave up.
According to his experience, these places have not had fires for so many years simply out of luck. If this place were converted into a large-scale factory, he would really be worried that everything would be destroyed in a fire.
These workshops will be retained for the time being, and it will not be too late to demolish them after Castel is built.
Besides, Hughes knocked on the simple wall.
There are many minerals on the island. If he is lucky, he might be able to make cement.
The construction speed at that time will be a leap compared to now. These factories are just for transition and will be demolished in the future.
Another advantage of cement is that it is not very afraid of seawater.
Pirates, huh? Guess how fast I can build a turret?
Once industrialization begins, the development speed will become faster and faster. The spontaneous optimization and innovation of a good system will drive the development of the entire Castres.
At that time, he only needs to set the general direction and wait for the territory to develop easily. The torrent of iron and fire will push forward this ordinary fantasy world.
As long as he provides a healthy upward channel, he will even be dragged forward by the reformists.
Even the Empire is just a larger ant. As for whether they will become enemies? Oh, people who have not seen the industrial explosion will probably go crazy when they see this industrial giant.
He doesn't even need to send out troops; he can simply dump goods on them and they will collapse on their own.
Oh, maybe there will be some desperate counterattacks before death, and watching them smashed under the wheels of time should be a nice entertainment.
(End of this chapter)